I have a little 1994 14' Smokercraft Alaskan, and I'm not sure exactly how to install downriggers on it. The gunnel doesn't seem that stout to where it would be able to handle some of the heavier downrigger balls if I wanted to go deep, or if I hung up on something, etc.

Do any of you folks out there have a Smoker Alaskan and can share with me how you mounted your downrigger or downriggers?

Thanks a ton!

Richard

I have a 14' aluminum GIII that I installed a scotty 1060 on.



It has a bench seat that I put an small aluminum box platform on to raise the surface up even with the gunnal and then installed the mount onto that. I only run a 10 lb ball with that setup but it works well as well as providing a nice little dry cubby for my cell phone, camera, etc.

I know scotty also has a gunnel mount for that model - not sure how sturdy a setup that is but scotty usually engineers things pretty well so it may work. you may need an angled shim piece to level the mount. Looks like it could be used for other models of downriggers as well.



If anyone reading this is going to buy a scotty compact make sure to get the 1060 not the 1050 - it's only $10-$20 more but it has the larger spool - you'll go crazy trying to crank up 120 feet of cable on a 6" per crank spool.

Good luck

I don't know if this would work for you, but my brother bolted a 2 X 6 across the boat. He mounted a downrigger on each side.

Meat Line

I had one of the guys at Three Rivers make me a mounting plate for my Alumacraft. It has worked out really well. It's also very stout!

In my old 14ft tin boat I used a pedistal that I bolted to the seat with a big chunck of 1/4" stainless backing plate. I got the pedistal at outdoor emporium (don't know if they still have them) but they were basically a 2 1/2" or so pipe with a plate welded on each end that had holes drilled in them for mounting to the boat and holes for mounting the base of the downrigger on the other end. Pulled around 12lbs balls for alot of years with no problems.

I have a 15' Alaskan that I put a pair of Invader clamp-on 'riggers on. Seems to do okay with 8lb balls. Not too sure I would want to go too much bigger.

Incidentally, I got the Invaders for about $150 for the pair on eBay and they are pretty nice. They have a clutch, a counter, and bring in 18" per crank.

a nice 2x6 from oarlock to oarlock. Stained up nice gives alot of space to mount stuff is removable and fairly inexpensive. Adds a lot of strength to boat aswell .

Clamp mounts made by scotty. Got them on my little 12 lund and as long as you don't use more then an 8lb ball your fine....And they are the scotty 1050's, manual, 1 foot per rotation, so it's not bad....

They work great and I got no problem reeling up DR balls....

Thanks all, for your replies! Hope to hear some other ideas . . .

One of the cool things about my boat is I only have one bench seat, so for a little boat I have a lot of walking around room. The only bench seat is at the very front, where the bow storage compartment starts.

I bought a Scotty 1060 with clamp, but when I went to install it it just seemed to heavy and clunky for the gunwale.

What if I took about a 4 foot piece of 1x4 cedar or IPE (ironwood) and ran it along the outside/underneath the gunwale? It would stiffen up that area of the gunwale, allow me a better clamp area for the downrigger, etc.?

My clamp mount Invaders are pretty squirrely if I clamp then directly to the gunwhale. I slide a two-by-four in there and they are solid as a rock. Seems to put less stress on the gunwhale, too, but that could be my imagination.

How long of a 2x4?

How long of a 2x4?

I'm not really sure how long the 2x4 is. Doesn't need to be big. Mine's a foot, maybe. I put it flush to the outside of gunwhale, put the clamp mount over it, and screw 'er down as tight as I can get her. Not ideal, but for a cheap, lazy-man's solution it seems to work pretty well. I wonder what would happen if my ball got stuck or snagged. I suspect it would not be pretty.

Contact Duro Boat. They make a aluminum mount for downriggers. I have two on my boat. They might fit your boat.

Interesting idea, Juicy Jigs! Are you happy with the mounts? What size downrigger and ball(s) have you run on it? How does it attach to the boat? That could possibly affect if it would for the Smokercraft, to the extent Duroboat has its own joint/seam joining system . . .

Thanks again!